


Off the Pages

by wreckingtomlinson



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Fluff, Library AU, M/M, Shy Louis
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-20
Updated: 2013-12-20
Packaged: 2018-01-05 06:04:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,730
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1090495
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wreckingtomlinson/pseuds/wreckingtomlinson
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>AU in which Louis works the circulation desk at the library, Harry tries everything he can to get Louis' attention, and Niall can't figure out how to refill the paper in the copier.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>  <em>(prompt fill from <a href="http://winklou.tumblr.com/post/69436656340/20-h-l-prompts-someone-needs-to-fill-for-me-right">this post</a> by <a href="http://winklou.tumblr.com">winklou</a>: louis is an adorable, stuttery little librarian. harry spends 5 days out of 7 at the library watching louis. he purposes checks out the dirtiest books he can find (think 50 shades of grey, gone gay and even worse), he eats bananas and lollipops and any other phallic shaped object he can think of. louis shows next to no reaction. finally harry slips a little note saying ‘will you go on a date with me? <3’ into one of the books he’s returning. louis goes bright, bright pink and adjusts his glasses like 20 times, but says yes. they go out for a little bit, and it’s fluffy and fond and silly and cute.)</em></p>
            </blockquote>





	Off the Pages

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to [winklou](http://winklou.tumblr.com) on Tumblr for the prompt! I had fun writing this ^.^

Louis knows it's going to be a weird day when he enters the library ten minutes late to find his mate Niall engaged in a losing battle with the copy machine.

"Nialler, what's the problem now?" Louis sighs.

The blond looks up at Louis, a ream of paper in his hand. "It's not letting me fill the paper tray."

"It's literally the easiest thing ever," Louis mocks him, walking over and sliding the empty paper tray out. "Seriously, what were you  _doing_?"

Niall gapes. "How did you do that?"

"You forgot to push this tab right here." Louis kneels by the machine and points out the button in question. "You've got to push that in before you slide the tray out or you're gonna break it. Seriously though, how have you managed to escape paper replacement duty all these months?"

Niall shrugs. "Beats me. Well, now that that's done, I've got a cartload of books to shelve, so I'll be in the biographies if you need me."

"Good lad." Louis slaps Niall on the shoulder before taking his position behind the front desk. There's several stacks of books waiting for him, books that had been returned that need to be scanned back into the system. Louis pushes his glasses up his nose and sets to work.

He's just finished the second stack and putting them in the bin behind him when he hears someone clear their throat. He whirls around and—oh, god.

Standing on the other side of the desk is the most intriguing-looking person Louis' ever seen. Louis has to look up to meet his eyes. He has dark hair tucked under a green beanie, stray curls peeking out near his ears. His white shirt is unbuttoned halfway, letting butterfly and twin swallow tattoos show, the ink in stark relief from his pale skin. And his eyes, green like rare jade, makes it feel like he's reading Louis from the inside out. Louis shudders at the cliché as it crosses his mind, but it's so accurate it hurts.

For what might be the first time in his life, Louis is speechless.

"H-Hi," Louis manages. "I mean, hi. How can I help you?"

"Just returning a book for a friend," the man says, his voice slow and gritty and reminding Louis of the sound skates make on ice. 

A book slides across the desk to Louis, snapping him out of his thoughts. It's  _The Da Vinci Code_. "Oh, um, yeah. Sorry. Good book, this one," Louis stammers.

"I wouldn't know, unfortunately." He won't stop staring at Louis, and Louis feels very small under his piercing gaze. "Maybe I should read it myself, then. Should I?"

It's embarrassing, how heavy Louis' tongue feels in his mouth right now, unable to form the words in his head. "I—Well, if you like, maybe, I don't know what you like so I can't say for sure but I liked it myself so—"

"Then give it back so I can check it out." The man cuts Louis' rambling short and smiles. 

"Oh, um, okay, give me a second, then." Louis clears his throat and fumbles to open the book to scan it back into the system so he can check it out again. Silently he curses his fingers for their sudden uncoordination. Somehow he manages to scan the barcode before the man hands his library card to Louis.  _Harry Styles,_  it reads. Louis certainly doesn't dwell on how melodic the name sounds.

Even the simple checkout process is an effort, with those damn green eyes watching Louis' every move. Finally, though, he's successfully checked the book out and the receipt is printing. "Ha-have a nice day...Harry," Louis blurts out, handing the book and Harry's card across the counter.

Harry tilts his head curiously. "And you too..."

"L-Louis." He clears his throat again. "Louis," he repeats more firmly. 

Harry smiles again. "I'll see you around, Louis." And then he's gone.

Once the door shuts behind Harry, Louis lets out a squeak. Thank god the library is empty except for him and Niall. "Fucking hell," he whispers to himself, shaking his head. He has to sit down, and he does, sinking to half-hide under the desk.

Niall trots up to the desk minutes later. "Sorry, I guess Liam fucked up the history section yesterday after we left and I had to—what's with you?" he demands.

"Did you see that guy come in?" Louis hisses, carding his hand through his fringe nervously.

"No, I've been shelving this whole time. What happened?"

Louis doesn't answer. Niall grins suddenly. "You fancy him."

"He's so fucking fit, Nialler! It's like...alright, you know how I know it's serious? I was stuttering. Actually stuttering. I never stutter. But I was stuttering."

"I've never heard that word so many times in my life until now, thanks a lot. Now it doesn't even sound like a word. But anyway, what did you say to him?"

"He was here to return a book for his friend, and I mentioned it was a good book, and he asked if he should read it, and I kind of told him yes, so he took it out and then he left. Harry Styles." Louis sighs, letting the name roll off his tongue and liking the feel of it.

Niall laughs and pats Louis on the back. "Good luck. Don't fuck it up."

"Easier said than done, Niall."

Over the next weeks, Louis starts seeing an awful lot of Harry. At first he's still dropping off books for friends, but as the days pass he begins taking out more and more books for himself. Some days Harry plants himself in an armchair in the fiction section and just reads for hours. Louis feels like Harry's always watching him, which really screws with his head. All of a sudden he's self-conscious about things he never even thought about. The glasses that are always slipping down the bridge of his nose, the button-ups he wears that are just a shade too tight, the fact that he plays with his fringe when he's just sitting there with nothing to do.

Though to be fair, he does a good deal of watching Harry. He's just less obvious about it. He takes in the dark skinny jeans, so tight it's a wonder how Harry fits into them, the obscenely long legs, the mess of curls, the hands large enough to carry five books at a time in a pincer grip.

Three weeks after their first meeting, Harry's coming to the library five times a week. Lately there's been a pattern in the books he's checking out, too, a pattern that makes Louis blush when he realises it. The last six books Harry has checked out have all been erotic fiction.  _Fifty Shades of Grey_  and a slew of other titles that Louis hasn't recognised but whose covers are enough to make him squirm. Not that he'd ever admit or show it. 

The fourth week is when Harry starts eating in the library. At first Louis doesn't mind—Niall eats in the library all the time, and it's really not that big a deal to anyone so the rule is never enforced. Just so long as no one opens up a copy of  _To Kill a Mockingbird_  only to have crumbs fall out, it's alright. But Harry's not eating crackers or Maltesers or anything that Louis might have expected. He walks in, slides his returned book— _Story of O_ —across the table to Louis with a smirk, lounges in his favourite chair, and pulls out a red lolly. 

Louis' painfully aware of his heartbeat quickening as he watches Harry's tongue and lips wrap around the sweet. He knows he's staring, but he can't tear his eyes away. Harry's doing things with his mouth that are giving Louis awfully dirty thoughts.

Harry's eyes meet Louis', and Harry sucks the entirety of the lolly into his mouth, his cheeks hollowing.

Determined not to show how riled up Harry's making him, he grabs a book off the top of the nearest stack, opens it, and glares at the pages without reading them. Anything to distract him from Harry simulating a blowjob with a lolly. He brushes his sweaty palms on his thighs, shutting his eyes and willing himself to breathe normally again. When he goes to turn the page, however, he stops, having found yet another thing that Harry has made him self-conscious about. Louis never quite paid much attention to the fact that he'd lick his fingertip before turning a page, but he's willing to bet Harry sure noticed. He resolves to stop, at least when Harry's watching. No need to give him anything else to go on.

When Harry finally walks up to the desk to check out his newest erotic find, he's still wearing a smirk. His lips are all red from the lolly; Louis tries not to think too hard on whether it was because of the colour of the candy or all the sucking. Louis also hopes against hope that his chair is pushed in enough that his erection is hidden under the desk.

Louis suffers three days of this. On the fourth day, Harry's weapon is a banana. Louis has long stopped looking at Harry, knowing that if he does so much as glance he won't be able to look away. But stilll, out of the corner of his eye, he can feel Harry's gaze on him. He's aware of Harry not-so-subtly licking the banana up and down before putting his mouth on it, his eyes on Louis the entire time.

Niall, meanwhile, just keeps flitting around the library shelving books and humming traditional Irish tunes to himself, in his own innocent little world. Louis envies him.

On the sixth day, Harry moves onto making eating even fucking  _carrots_ look erotic as hell. Louis' finally had enough, but he's torn between wanting to maintain his façade of aloofness and wanting the torture to end. And wanting to beg Harry to take him home and do those exact things, but to his cock. His shyness wins out and so Louis does nothing, gritting his teeth and wishing he were Niall.

Three days later, Harry doesn't come at his usual time.

"Niall," Louis calls, "Harry didn't come in while I was in the toilet, did he?"

Niall shakes his head. "Haven't seen him. Why?"

Louis taps his watch. "It's half two and Harry still hasn't come by yet. He's usually here by now."

"Maybe he's coming later?" Niall shrugs and skips off to the science section, tugging another cart of books behind him.

Harry comes in just before Louis' shift ends at four o'clock, sliding his book to Louis as always. But this time, he doesn't retreat to his chair.

Louis pushes the thought out of his head, though, and ignores Harry as he takes the book and opens the front cover looking for the barcode. A folded piece of paper falls out. "Oh, Harry, y-you left something," he stutters. Fuck, he hasn't  _really_  spoken to Harry beyond "hi" and "bye" in weeks and he's forgotten how hard words are to come by.

Harry smiles languidly and shakes his head. "No, that's, erm, that's for you."

Louis forces himself to look Harry in the eyes again and almost immediately regrets it. A far cry from the smoulders of the past week, Harry looks like a baby deer—a little shy, a little confused, a little curious. "O-okay, then." With shaking fingers, Louis unfolds the paper.

_LOUIS_

_will you go on a date with me? <3_

_harry x_

_  
_Ten simple words. Louis is speechless again. He can feel his face flushing, knows his cheeks are bright pink now. His breath is caught in his throat. He's pretty such this only happens in movies. Or romance novels. Oh god, is his life becoming something out of a book? "Ha-Harry..." he squeaks out, looking up at him. "I...I...you...me..."

Harry just smiles. It's a real smile, full of fondness and affection and a complete change from the smirks he'd been throwing at Louis as of late. "Well?" he prods gently.

Louis swallows hard and fiddles with his glasses, pushing them up on his nose at least three times before he can stammer out a "y-yes."

"When are you free?"

"Um..." Louis looks at his watch. "My shift's just about over, actually."

"Good. Coffee, then? I'll wait for you."

"O—okay." Louis manages a smile, then sprints to Niall in the children's section. "NI!"

"Whoa, Lou, what's the matter?" Niall drops the book he's holding. "Everything alright?"

"Can you close up?"

"Why?"

Louis blushes. "Harry—Harry asked me out."

Niall looks shocked for a second, then his face breaks into a wide grin. "Ah, there you go, mate! Finally! Go on, just don't do anything I wouldn't do," he adds with a wink.

"Like there's anything you wouldn't do," Louis shoots back before turning on his heel and running back to Harry.

"Ready to go?"

"Yeah." Louis grins.

They leave the library together, Louis trotting to keep up with Harry's long strides. 

"So," Harry says after a few minutes of silence, "what do you like to read?"

"Me? Well, most anything. I like suspense and thriller," Louis enthuses, glad to have a topic for conversation. It made speaking without stuttering a bit easier. "And what about you? I mean, other than...other than erotica?"

Harry laughs. "Actually, I didn't like a single one of those books I checked out," he admits, looking at the ground.

"You—what?!" Louis' confused. "Why take them out, then?"

"You," Harry says simply. "Was trying to see if you'd notice. I really thought you would, you know."

"Oh, trust me, I noticed." Louis shakes his head.

"You didn't show it."

"I'm good at that."

Harry opens the door to a tiny cafe that Louis' never been too before. It's dimly lit and a little cramped but smells heavenly. They find a two-person booth way in the back and sit down. 

"So does that mean you also got the hint when I was eating lollies and bananas?" Harry asks cheekily.

"I did, very much," Louis retorts with a blush. "It wasn't easy to ignore, that was for sure."

"Pity, you shouldn't have."

Louis' not sure what to say to that, but he doesn't have to because Harry's big, warm hand is covering his on the table. 

The rest of the date is quite pleasant. Louis orders his favourite Yorkshire tea, Harry orders coffee, and they get a sampling of pastries to share. They talk about nearly everything—Harry tells Louis about his mother and sister, and Louis tells Harry about his own family. The conversation skims from books to childhood memories to music, flowing easily as though they're following a script inside their heads. Before Louis realises it their food is long gone, Harry's paid the check, and the sky is dark.

"What time's it?" he asks.

Harry glances at his mobile phone. "Almost seven," he says with a slight laugh. "We've been here for three hours, nearly."

"Oh, god. I should get home." Louis stands, and Harry does the same. 

"I'll walk you home," Harry offers.

"I'm alright."

"No, I'm walking you home," Harry insists, and Louis gives in.

Louis doesn't live far, and in five minutes he's standing at the front door of his flat. "Well, Harry," he says, "I hope this means I'll still be seeing you at the library, then?"

Harry smiles. "Of course. Got to get my reading fix somehow."

"Does this mean you'll check out books you actually like now that you have my atttention?" Louis teases.

"Hmm, depends. Might just try to make you blush, 'cause you're cute when you blush."

Louis does just that, blush, and then Harry's got two fingers under Louis' chin tipping his face up and they're kissing. It's sweet and gentle and slow, but even still Louis has trouble catching his breath after Harry pulls back.

"See you tomorrow." Harry winks and disappears.

"Holy shit." Louis can only stand, stunned, at his front door for a full five minutes. He shakes his head to clear his thoughts and lets himself in his flat.

It's not until he's nearly drifted off to sleep that he realises that by the end of the night, he wasn't stuttering anymore.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! I really hope I did the prompt justice...oh and happy early holidays xx


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